The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the neutralization of underwater mines. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and device for replicating acoustic and magnetic signatures of ships to neutralize threat mines that trigger due to influence of acoustic and/or magnetic signatures.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Threats to shipping and naval operations caused by mines must be eliminated to allow effective operations and prevent losses. In the past contact and influence mines have caused significant amounts of damage to ships. In particular, mines have proven so effective because they are relatively inexpensive to build and deploy, and are extremely difficult to detect, classify, identify and neutralize. Traditionally, mines have been defeated by deploying search vehicles from vessels to locate them and by controlling the radiated signatures of naval ships. The problem with these techniques is that they require additional systems, such as divers with explosives, or helicopters dragging sweep systems along with separate monitoring facilities that require substantial time and logistic resources to implement.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a method and device to neutralize mines and ensure that mines will not detonate when a ship transits through a minefield.
The first object of the invention is to provide a method and device to neutralize mines.
Another object is to provide a method and device to deny an adversary the ability to effectively mine an area.
Another object is to provide a method and device to ensure that mines will not detonate when a ship transits through a minefield by transmitting signatures that are similar to the ship.
Another object is to provide a method and underwater device that replicates the acoustic and/or magnetic signatures of ships to neutralize the threat created by magnetic ande/or acoustic influence mines in a minefield.
Another object of the invention is to make the undersea environment an unreliable medium from which an enemy can successfully conduct mine and undersea waefare.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and device to neutralize an area already having mines.
Another object is to provide a method and device to neutralize mines that is compact, lightweight, expendable, and easily deployed from multiple platforms.
These and other objects of the invention will become more readily apparent from the ensuing specification when taken in conjunction with the appended claims.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and underwater device for neutralizing influence mines and assuring that a ship will not detonate mines in an area. An electronics/control module within the device generates signals representative of acoustic and magnetic signatures of a ship. An acoustic transducer array is coupled to the module to transmit acoustic signals representative of the acoustic portion of the signature. A magnetic signal transmitter is coupled to the module to transmit magnetic signals representative of the magnetic portion of the signature. An anchor connected to the module, acoustic transducer array, and magnetic signal transmitter holds them at a bottom of a body of water. A buoy is connected to the top of the module, acoustic transducer array, and magnetic signal transmitter suspending them in the water and permitting transmission of the representative acoustic and magnetic signatures thereby destroying or neutralizing influence mines in the area.